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Saturday, 17 October 2009

I'm getting creative!

It's weird that writing has made me more creative generally. I was completely stalled yesterday, having sent off two assignments on consecutive days I felt like I have been editing and tweaking for years and haven't produced anything that original for ages. Then TMA02, which is to write a complete short story of 2,200 (which seems like a funny length) made me feel like I'm devoid of plotlines.

Anyway, new day - new story! Or, two to be exact, one based loosely on my parents' experiences of moving into a new house and being inundated with cows one morning, the other about the challenge or diving in competitions. Both using what I know from experience or have developed from experience of reading/talking to people.

The challenge with the first one is to write about moving house in a less obvious, linear way. I still prefer third person, but anchored in one person's point of view (POV). I'm toying with the crisis being a row the day after they move, when they doubt their decision to buy a fixer upper, then go back to the stress of the actual move, that caused the row, then maybe end with resolving a bigger crisis at the end (garden full of cows). Sometimes you have to hit rock bottom to sort things out, get a perspective. Anyway, that's they way I'm writing it at the moment. My main concern in the commentary, but hopefully i will get useful pointers in the feedback from the tutor.

The diving piece is more biographical, but looking at the nature of fear, and overcoming it. We are often exposed to moments of drama that leave us with mini flashbacks, and I wanted to look at the effect seeing a diver have an accident would have on a teenager years later. Doesn't sound very exciting, does it? I am making her think about this on the high board, and if you're scared of heights, hopefully the descriptions will be tense, but I'm not sure it will work for people who don't mind heights!

Anyway, back to tidying the garden while husband cleans windows, while the buzzards wheel overhead and my chickens are loose!

The Secrets of Life and Death

The Secrets of Blood and Bone

The Secrets of Time and Fate

I Will Find You

A Shroud of Leaves

Saving Noah

About Me

My name is Rebecca Alexander, I am a novelist and poet living in North Devon. I have completed an MA in Creative and Critical Writing at the University of Winchester. My dissertation novel 'The Secrets of Life and Death' was a runner up in the Mslexia 2011 novel writing competition. Another novel, 'A Baby's Bones' came second in the Yeovil novel competition, 2012. I have completed A215 and A363 with the Open University. I write novels with a mystery or supernatural theme and also enjoy writing poetry. I home educated my children, and live in a Georgian house near a river. I have too many cats. This blog is for the everyday stresses and successes of writing. My agent is Jane Willis of United Agents. The Secrets of Life and Death was published by Del Rey UK (part of Random House/Ebury) on October 2013 and the sequel The Secrets of Blood and Bone came out in the UK in October 2014. The third book in the trilogy will be out in 2016. I am presently writing another series, about archaeological puzzles.

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